The prior art describes vacuum cleaners, in which the dirt-laden suction air is first filtered through a disposable dust bag. In order to allow for easy insertion of the dust bag into the dust chamber, the bag is provided with a collar around the opening region of the inlet opening, said collar being inserted into a holder in the dust chamber. Dust bags are generally provided by the vacuum cleaner manufacturer or authorized suppliers. This allows for quality control, so that the dust bags are matched to the requirements of the respective vacuum cleaner in terms of tear-resistance, retention capacity, and other parameters. However, there are also available unauthorized, cheap dust bags that do not meet these requirements. For instance, when using a dust bag from a third-party manufacturer, it is not possible to prevent the vacuum cleaner from being damaged during use, for example, because a dust bag is destroyed during the operation of the vacuum cleaner. When using an unauthorized dust bag, it is also possible that the fan power does not produce its full effect.
The aforementioned problems may also occur when inserting an original dust bag that is authorized by the vacuum cleaner manufacturer, but whose size is not appropriate for the vacuum cleaner used.
DE 299 22 289 U1 describes a system for identifying and authenticating accessory, auxiliary and/or operating materials for technical equipment, said system allowing a vacuum cleaner to identify an unauthorized dust bag and to subsequently disable the operation. A user who may not know this function will suspect a technical fault, resulting in servicing costs. Moreover, the user is unacceptably limited in the selection of the dust bag, because he or she is unable to intentionally choose cheap dust bags.